Joe Girardi

The buzz haircut, the square-set jaw, and the taut physique that must be the envy of many current ballplayers give Yankees manager Joe Girardi a no-nonsense appearance. In the case of the polished, 45-year-old alum of Northwestern, where he earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, the look is not deceiving. Put it this way: What manager would walk over to the club owner's box and tell him to get off the umpire's back? Girardi did. The incident occurred during a game at Miami in August 2006.

Baseball Notable Joe Girardi might be headed to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a report on ESPN.com said yesterday. A broadcaster with the Yankees, Girardi is one of the candidates to succeed Joe Torre in New York. The agent for Girardi, Steve Mandel , was asked whether Girardi had been approached by the Dodgers, and Mandel would not comment. Dodgers manager Grady Little is under contract for next season after the team picked up his option for 2008 on March 7. Little also has a club option for 2009.

The New York Yankees picked experience over popularity, offering the manager's job to Joe Girardi at the risk of watching Don Mattingly walk away from the franchise. Beloved as team captain, "Donnie Baseball" was the early favorite to replace Joe Torre and openly coveted the spot. After finding out yesterday he didn't get it, Mattingly told the Yankees he had no interest in returning next year as bench coach or in any other coaching position. Girardi was the 2006 NL Manager of the Year with Florida, plus he has a pinstriped pedigree.

Joe Girardi told the Washington Nationals he doesn't want to be their new manager, becoming the second high-profile candidate to withdraw from consideration for the job. Girardi's agent, Steve Mandell, said his client is "looking at a couple of different options," but wouldn't elaborate. Girardi was fired this month by the Florida Marlins after one season as their manager. He interviewed with the Nationals and, at the start of their search, was thought to be a top candidate along with Lou Piniella, who ruled himself out 2 weeks ago and eventually was hired by the Chicago Cubs.

While Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that CC Sabathia would start tonight's Game 4 of the World Series against the Phillies on three days' rest, he wasn't ready to commit beyond that point. Girardi did say he would consider doing the same with starters A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte. Burnett was the winning pitcher in Thursday's 3-1 victory that evened the series at one game apiece. "This is the World Series," Girardi said. "There is no baseball after the World Series for four or five months, so there will be plenty of time to rest.

Mariano Rivera ended all conversation about the greatest closer in major-league history on Saturday when he tied the career saves record with the 601st of his glittering career in a 7-6 win over Toronto. The Yankee immortal matched Trevor Hoffman as the all-time leader. "[No. 602 will be] the big one because it just puts the final stamp on it that he's the greatest closer of all time," New York manager Joe Girardi said. Come on Joe. Who'd you think it was, Luis Arroyo ?

NEW YORK - When you're a Yankee, going to the World Series never gets old. But, when you're a Yankee, getting there means nothing if you don't win. Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez, the biggest names the Yankees ever bought, know this. "We talked about it 2 nights ago," Teixeira said yesterday. We just feel like we're very blessed we're here. Getting a chance to do this. With the Yankees. "The greatest thing about being a Yankee is the expectations. As a team, we expect greatness.

The real entertainment at Tampa's Steinbrenner Field on Wednesday was inside the Yankees clubhouse. Donnie Moore of the evangelical ministry Radical Reality was the latest motivational speaker brought in by manager Joe Girardi. Moore tore apart a soda can and a telephone book with his bare hands. Then he took a frying pan and rolled it up. "Like a burrito," Girardi said. How this helps hit the curveball is hard to see and, anyway, he sounds like someone who'd be more help to the football Giants.

Bad times in the Bronx The New York Yankees, who have played in 13 straight postseasons, trailed the first-place Tampa Bay Rays by 9 1/2 games entering last night. They had only 19 games left. Their fourth-place standing is the lowest the Yankees have been since after the all-star break in 1993. Coincidentally, that was the last time the Yankees failed to make the playoffs. (There were no playoffs in 1994.) "There are 19 games left, and we have to win most of them. Maybe all of them," manager Joe Girardi said.

Jorge Posada became the second-highest paid catcher in baseball when he agreed yesterday to a $51 million, five-year contract with the New York Yankees. Posada's annual average of $10.2 million is second among catchers to the Mets' Mike Piazza, who averages $13 million in a $91 million, seven-year deal that began in 1999. Pittsburgh catcher Jason Kendall is third with a $10 million average under a six-year deal that began last season. Playing with a sore shoulder last season, Posada batted .277 with 22 homers - including three grand slams - and 95 RBI. In 2000, he hit .287 with 28 homers and 86 RBI after taking over from Joe Girardi as the Yankees' top catcher after the 1999 season.

NEW YORK Yankees manager Joe Girardi said closer Mariano Rivera has a torn right knee ligament, an injury that could potentially end his career. The 42-year-old righthander was carted off the field after twisting his right knee shagging fly balls during batting practice Thursday night before the Yankees' 4-3 loss to the host Kansas City Royals, who were led by Mike Moustakas' three RBI. Girardi revealed the severity of the injury after the game. Royals team doctor Vincent Key diagnosed a torn ACL after looking at the MRI. "This is bad, there's no question about it," Girardi.

NEW YORK - It was three hours before game time and Raul Ibanez was hacking away. In the batting tunnel underneath Yankee Stadium, Ibanez was taking one swing after another. For somebody who turns 40 on June 2, or even somebody much younger, this looked like an exhaustive exercise. The swings came off a tee at first and then Ibanez faced a pitcher. Each swing had a purpose, all 100 of them, or so it seemed. This is a routine Ibanez insists he does every day. In his mind, it's not too much to ask, doing a pre-batting practice workout, before getting more swings on the field.

The real entertainment at Tampa's Steinbrenner Field on Wednesday was inside the Yankees clubhouse. Donnie Moore of the evangelical ministry Radical Reality was the latest motivational speaker brought in by manager Joe Girardi. Moore tore apart a soda can and a telephone book with his bare hands. Then he took a frying pan and rolled it up. "Like a burrito," Girardi said. How this helps hit the curveball is hard to see and, anyway, he sounds like someone who'd be more help to the football Giants.

Mariano Rivera ended all conversation about the greatest closer in major-league history on Saturday when he tied the career saves record with the 601st of his glittering career in a 7-6 win over Toronto. The Yankee immortal matched Trevor Hoffman as the all-time leader. "[No. 602 will be] the big one because it just puts the final stamp on it that he's the greatest closer of all time," New York manager Joe Girardi said. Come on Joe. Who'd you think it was, Luis Arroyo ?

FREDDY GARCIA returned from the disabled list to pitch six innings of two-hit ball, Nick Swisher homered and the visiting New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-2, last night earn a split of the four-game series. It was New York's second straight win without third baseman Alex Rodriguez and shortstop Derek Jeter. Rodriguez will join the team in Boston today after getting an MRI on his sore left thumb in New York, and Jeter rested a bruised right knee but was available "in case of an emergency," manager Joe Girardi said.

Alex Rodriguez doesn't feel ready to join the New York Yankees' lineup anytime soon. Rodriguez said after his final minor league rehabilitation game with the Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in Moosic, that he will not play for the AL-East leading Yankees today when they open a series at Minnesota. Rodriguez was noncommittal about tomorrow's game as well. "Offensively, I feel like I'm there," Rodriguez said last night. "The next day or two are the last final stages.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi raised the nasty spectre of electronic cheating on Saturday when he said the Toronto Blue Jays "could be" stealing signs using illegal methods. In baseball's arcane code of conduct, it's perfectly permissable for a baserunner to read the catcher's signs to the pitcher, then try to relay them to the batter. But a batting practice catcher sitting in the bullpen with binoculars, or a coach hiding behind the scoreboard in center, is not. Both Girardi and Yankees catcher Russell Martin think the Blue Jays are stealing signs.

Joe Girardi was left scratching his head at Bartolo Colon's latest bad start. Edwin Encarnacion and Eric Thames had three hits and three RBI each and the Toronto Blue Jays used an eight-run first inning to beat Colon and the visiting New York Yankees, 16-7, last night. Toronto lost slugger Jose Bautista to a twisted right ankle in the fourth inning. Bautista, who leads the majors with 31 home runs, limped off after an awkward slide into third base. He is day-to-day. The Yankees made three errors, including a first-inning miscue by third baseman Eduardo Nunez that led to five unearned runs.

NEW YORK - Because he had not yet officially signed with the New York Yankees, Brian Gordon had to throw a bullpen session on a field adjacent to the new Yankee Stadium upon his arrival Wednesday afternoon. It was on a patch of Bronx real estate where Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle once played the game, and a bystander was impressed by the anonymous righthander getting his work in on the hallowed ground where the original Yankee Stadium once stood. "No one recognized me, but one guy said: 'Hey, you have a good arm,' " Gordon recalled.

Girardi has bigger things to worry about Once again, Yankees manager Joe Girardi is complaining about peripheral stuff during a game his team lost. Last month, it had to do with four Seattle fans, including a streaker, who ran onto Safeco Field during yet another loss to the Mariners. He told reporters that the fans should be punished. "The penalties have to be severe," he said. This time, Girardi did not like the way Boston slugger David Ortiz flipped his bat after admiring a monster home run Tuesday night that turned out to be the game-winner for the hard-charging Red Sox. "I didn't really care for it," he said, then went on and on about why showing that kind of swagger was bad for baseball.